Gangnam Severance Hospital said it completed the first surgery in the “platform clinic” it built in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on a woman with thyroid cancer.

Indira, the Kazakh thyroid cancer patient (second from right), and Professor Kim Bup-woo (far right) commemorate the successful surgery at the platform clinic created by Gangnam Severance Hospital and Korean Medical Center Almaty in Kazakhstan..

Gangnam Severance Hospital's Professor Kim Bup-woo conducted the surgery on a 29-year old woman on July 19.

The patient who is working to become a gynecologist felt an abnormality in her thyroid gland five years ago and had a biopsy at the local hospital. However, Kazakh medical staff at the time misdiagnosed it as a benign nodule. She did not receive further treatment until Professor Kim, who visited Kazakhstan on a medical volunteer project, discovered metastatic lymph nodes in her throat that had progressed to thyroid cancer.

Although the patient had first thought of going to Korea for treatment, financial and time limitations due to her medical career barred her from doing so, according to Severance.

At around the same time, she was introduced to Gangnam Severance Hospital's "platform clinic" established in Kazakhstan, where she went to get the surgery and had cancer removed.

"The patient's had progressive thyroid carcinoma with extensive metastasis to the cervical lymph node, but fortunately the operation completely removed the thyroid gland and surrounding metastases," Professor Kim said.

The clinic, established in June, is a specialized unit that focuses on cancers for women. It was established as a result of cooperation between Korean Medical Center Almaty and Gangnam Severance Hospital, on the latter's efforts to make its full-fledged entry into Kazakhstan.

In May, Gangnam Severance Hospital dispatched Professor Kim Bup-woo to operate the hospital, which included performing surgeries and medical treatment for patients.

"Kazakhstan is expected to have more patients with progressive cancer, unlike Korea that has a lot of early-stage patients due to [early detection by] advanced diagnosis technology," the professor said.

yjc@docdocdoc.co.kr

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